CommBank Kaching pays by Facebook
Commonwealth Bank (CBA) today launched a new app for iPhone, which includes payments via Facebook amongst several other features.
Commonwealth Bank (CBA) today launched a new app for iPhone, which includes payments via Facebook amongst several other features.
The Kaching app is designed by the bank to be a complete banking interface for smartphones, including 99 per cent of the CBA's NetBank functionality, plus a range of smartphone-specific tools that allow customers to make payments via a Facebook user ID, an email address or a mobile phone number. Kaching also integrates with PayPass contactless payment systems and will make "tap and go" payments available to iPhone users in the coming months after the purchase of an NFC-enabled iPhone case.
"The idea is to let you pay your friend as quickly as you can send your friend a text message," said CBA's David Lindberg at today's launch.
Payments over Facebook are deposited instantaneously for CBA customers who also use Kaching, but requires a two-step verification process for money sent to everyone else. Kaching creates the payment and notifies the payee using Facebook and also creates a unique payment code, which the payee enters on a dedicated collections site. The original notification of payment will not include this unique code, requiring the payer to send this detail separately. As part of the app's Facebook integration, the payer can post a notice of the payment to the wall of the person who is receiving the money.
The Kaching app is integrated with the address book in iOS and can be connected to a user's contacts in Facebook, giving users the ability to create a peer-to-peer payment without having to leave the app. The app also shows up-to-date account information and includes shortcuts to transfer money between a customer's accounts with minimal input.
CBA is promising the "world's most secure banking app" in Kaching, and includes numerous log-in and PIN options plus full reimbursement for customers who are victims of fraud. Customers who choose an NFC-capable iPhone case are further protected, with the case registering for use with a single iOS device.